RALEIGH, N.C.-- NC State wrestling takes to the road this weekend with a pair of tough ranked opponents in No. 9 American and No. 12 Maryland.

The Wolfpack will face American in Washington, D.C., on Friday in a match that will begin at 7 p.m. American is led by the No. 1-ranked wrestler in the heavyweight division, 2011 NCAA runner-up Ryan Flores.

The Eagles feature four nationally ranked wrestlers including No. 16 Matt Mariacher at 141, No. 4 Ganbayar Sanjaa at 157, No. 17 Daniel Mitchell at 197, and Flores at heavyweight. American is coming off of dual-meet wins against Stanford and Cal Poly.

“We always try to wrestle an extremely tough schedule; it’s a way for the guys to get around the country and wrestle the best competition,” Wolfpack head coach Carter Jordan said. “At the end of the day it’s about getting guys to the NCAA Tournament and you have to wrestle against high-caliber teams in order to do that.”

The American match will be video streamed live via Eagles Vision TV. Fans can watch the match for $7.95 by clicking HERE.

On Sunday, NC State will square off against a conference opponent, the No. 12 Maryland Terrapins at 2 p.m. in College Park. The Terrapins are led by John Asper, the No. 2-ranked wrestler at 165. Maryland has five wrestlers ranked nationally at 157, 165, 174, 197, and heavyweight, respectively.

NC State will be looking to build off of strong performances by the Wolfpack’s seniors in their last match, Sunday vs. 15th-ranked Virginia Tech, as all of the three seniors secured wins. Redshirt-senior 141-pounder Darrius Little recorded his 89th career victory on Sunday and is now tied for sixth in school history for career victories. For the second consecutive weekend, Little will face a ranked opponent when he wrestles against No. 16 Matt Mariacher of American. Little now has victories in nine of his last 10 matches and is 25-9 on the season.

“This weekend we’re looking to have all of our guys in the lineup firing on all cylinders,” said Jordan. “It’s very difficult to have a match when every guy comes out and is hitting his stride, but if we do that then we will have a good weekend.”

Following are the projected starting lineups for NC State, American, and Maryland: